Summer Wines

Warm weather brings a yearning for certain wines. Living in San Francisco, the fog can dampen the feeling but when I do escape the fog I tend to reach for Rieslings, Chenin Blancs, rosés & Zinfandels. What about you? Do you have certain wines you like to have with warmer weather?

We definitely drink more Rose and Vino Verde in the summer. Probably more of other white wines (sauvignon blanc, pinot grigio, various rhone varietals and various white blends) also as temperatures climb. In general, we do not drink a lot of zinfandel, but almost all of the ones we open accompany the summer barbecue season.

For me, in the summer, I like a little levity on the palate—thus, the lighter white varietals. I usually reserve Semillon, Bordeaux Blanc & champagne for other times of the year. So glad I asked for it is interesting what people prefer.

ML and BB, I would opt for the colder temp for "heavier" fare. I have even chilled down some reds when it is warm outside.

Another addition, I will do flips for prosecco or cava during the summer.

In the FWIW mode (mood?), Champagne is pretty much an "all year 'round" thing for us, as opposed to a "Summertime wine," but a Vin de Bugey-Cerdon -- like that from Patrick Bottex (imported by Kermit Lynch) or the Domaine Renardat-Fâche (Louis/Dressner) that carswell mentions below -- is pretty much the quintessential warm weather sparkler at our house . . .

As for Sémilion -- some white Bordeaux are wonderful during the warm weather (typically Fall, rather than Summer, in the SF Bay Area, but with global warming -- who knows?), but for us, it's mostly Entre-deux-Mers. More serious whites from Pessac-Léognan and Graves, or so-called (and incorrectly) "dry Sauternes" like Château Y, R, G, etc., along with Sémilions from producers like L'Ecole No. 41, Ahlgren, and Kalin get more use at our house in the cooler months.

Jason, while in Healdsburg this past week picked up a bottle of the Saxon Browne Cricket Creek 2007 Alexander Valley Sémilion specifically to acquaint myself with the varietal. Wondering how this compares with your reco's? TIA

I'm not sure...possibly Rhone Valley wines pair very well with BBQ and Cote du Rhone tends to have less tannin than other Rhone wines. So a bottle of Cote du Rhone can bring a table of casual wine tasters and wine experts together. What do you like to drink in the Summer?

Agree with your thoughts on Cotes du Rhone. CdR is one of our current favorite "house" reds. We like it for the same reasons you suggest. (We seldom find one that we do not like, and we generally consider them a good value given the quality.) We pair them with a fairly broad variety of dishes. The only difference is, I think we drink them fairly consistently throughout the year without regard to the seasons. Of course, here in SOCAL, the concept of "seasons" generally involves less extreme variation in climate than some other locales.

Almost any New Zealand Sauvingon Blanc. Even when chilled may be more than they should, they have a crispness than is very refreshing in the dog days of summer (which have already started down here in FL.)